Mumbai: Residents take to streets to protest idol immersion ban in Aarey

Shiv Sena (UBT) members, MLA Dattaram Waikar and locals participated in the ‘Aarey Jan Awaaj Andolan’ , on Tuesday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Ravindra Waikar, along with residents of Aarey Milk Colony, protested against the government and the Aarey Milk Colony Office on Tuesday morning over the banning of the immersion of Ganesh idols in Chhota Kashmir lake and the poor condition of roads.

"We had asked the authorities to clean the lakes in Aarey a long time back when a bill was passed in Vidhan Sabha by the then chairperson. Aarey being under the territory of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Aarey office had written about it to the civic body. The BMC asked for Rs 10 crore as the cost of cleaning the lakes. This is absolutely wrong on their part," Waikar said.

"What preparations has the BMC done if the immersion of Ganesh idols is prohibited in the Chhota Kashmir lake? Every year, around 5,000 idols are immersed in the lake, out of which around 1,000 are bigger idols of 5 feet or more. The BMC must explain where the 5,000 idols will be immersed. The immersion cannot be done in Juhu as the Gokhale bridge in Andheri is closed. In Powai the traffic is so bad that people get stuck for almost three hours," Waikar said.

Also read: Mumbai: Kurla teen is 2nd Zika case in city

Waikar also raised the poor condition of the inner roads in Aarey. "Aarey colony has a 45-km-long network of roads that are not maintained at all. We had demanded funds from the authorities for repairing the inner roads but they weren't granted," Waikar said. On August 17, Waikar had also written to the Assistant Municipal Commissioner, the Aarey CEO and the Senior Police Inspector of Aarey police to reconsider the ban.

On August 25, mid-day reported on the prohibition of immersion in the report, ‘Immersion of idols won't be permitted in Chhota Kashmir', and on the request for artificial tanks in the report, ‘Provide artificial tanks at Aarey for visarjan', on August 3. NGO Vanashakti had appealed to the state's environmental department and other relevant stakeholders to stop immersions in Aarey's lakes considering that the area falls within the Eco-Sensitive Zone of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The region was declared an Eco-Sensitive Zone on December 5, 2016. The NGO asked the BMC to set up artificial tanks for idol immersion as an alternative to the lakes.